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SMS gateway with web interface on Raspberry Pi

ghost666  8 27270 Cool? (+5)
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TL;DR

  • Raspberry Pi becomes a web-based SMS gateway using a USB GSM modem, PHP front end, C# modem software, and PostgreSQL history storage.
  • Apache2, PHP, PHP PDO, PHP PostgreSQL, and Mono for C# are installed, then the modem is tested through minicom and AT commands.
  • The modem appears as /dev/ttyUSB0, /dev/ttyUSB1, and /dev/ttyUSB2, and a cron job runs SMS-cron.exe every minute to check queued messages.
  • Sent SMSes are stored in an sms table with fields like sms_id, date_insert, date_send, number, message, date_error, and date_cancel.
  • A SIM card is required, and the card and message costs depend on the operator.
The description below shows how you can convert a Raspberry Pi with a GSM modem to USB into a gateway for sending SMS via the web interface. The project was created using PHP and C #. The software that communicates with the modem is written in C #, and the web front-end in PHP. In addition, the system is equipped with a PostgreSQL database, which is used to store the history of sent SMSes. The GSM modem requires a SIM card - the cost of the card and the messages sent depends on the operator.

Step 1: Required items

You only need two devices: Raspberry Pi and a USB GSM modem with an active network card.

Step 2: Software requirements

Before we start struggling with the program on Raspberry Pi we must install:

* Apache2
* PHP
* PHP PDO
* PHP PostgreSQL
* Mono for C #

To install the Apache2 packages in the console, type:

Code: Bash
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Then we insalize PHP:

Code: Bash
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Immediately afterwards, the PostgreSQL database:

Code: Bash
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And mono:

Code: Bash
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Step 3: GSM modem for USB and Raspberry Pi

First, connect the GSM modem to a free USB port and enter the lsusb command in the console. We should see our modem; e.g:

Code: text Expand Select all Copy to clipboard
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 12d1:1506 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E398 LTE/UMTS/GSM Modem/Networkcard


The serial port used by the modem will be described as / dev / ttyUSB0, so if we use the command:

Code: Bash
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we will see a list of devices of this type:

Code: text Expand Select all Copy to clipboard
/dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/ttyUSB1 /dev/ttyUSB2


We can now test AT commands on our USB modem. To this end, we will install minicom, which will allow us to send commands to it. In the terminal enter:

Code: Bash
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After installing the minicom we need to configure it. Enter the following command in the terminal:

Code: Bash
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In the settings we select "Serial port setup" and if all configurations match, press "OK".

Step 4: Creating the database

Now we need to create a PostgreSQL database in which we will store information about sent SMSes. The table has the following fields:

Field name Description
sms_id Message ID number
date_insert Date the entry was added
date_send Date of sending the SMS
number Recipient's phone number
message Message content
date_error If an error occurred - the date it occurred
date_cancel Field informing about cancellation of sending an SMS


And it is defined as follows:

Code: SQL
Log in, to see the code


Step 5: Form for sending text messages

Before we can use the following script, we must configure the connection to the database server. The author of the design uses an external server, but there is no problem to host the database locally on the Raspberry Pi.

We need to complete the following data in the script:

Code: PHP
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The script itself is very simple - it contains a form for sending an SMS. Sent messages are saved in the "sms" table described above.

Code: PHP
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Step 6: Software for sending SMS

Software that supports GSM modem is written in C #. To be able to use programs created in this language under Linux, we must have Mono installed. First, we need to configure several constants with database login data in the program:

Code: C#
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The entire project in C # can be downloaded here .

The project was compiled in MonoDevelop under Windows and then copied to 'Raspberry'. After compilation, we create an SMS-cronb folder in the home folder and copy the following files from the project there: Mono.Security.dll, Npgsql.dll and SMS-cron.exe.

Then open the crontab:

Code: Bash
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and add a single-line entry there and save:

Code: text Expand Select all Copy to clipboard
	* * * * * ./home/pi/SMS-cron/SMS-cron.exe
\

Thanks to this, every minute SMS-cron will start and check and the "sms" table with new SMSes to be sent.

The SMS gateway is ready



Source: http://geek.adachsoft.com/home/article/id/20/n/Raspberry-PI-SMS-sender/refid/fb
About Author
ghost666
ghost666 wrote 11961 posts with rating 10258 , helped 157 times. Live in city Warszawa. Been with us since 2003 year.

Comments

eDZio 16 May 2017 08:48

I do not see that this gate has the ability to receive text messages, only send. It is probably better to use Gammu SMSD on Linux, it can act as a deamon, it supports various databases, it can use files... [Read more]

perfi 16 May 2017 21:00

Some time ago I wrote a soft that allows you to turn your Android phone into an SMS gateway (commands are sent using REST). If interested, please refer to http://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic3253249.html... [Read more]

Hetii 17 May 2017 12:44

And is it sometimes easier and cheaper to use such a module? Cost 3.41 $ + 2 for esp8266 as an http / rest server. http://obrazki.elektroda.pl/7298882300_1495017741_thumb.jpg [Read more]

serafo 03 Jun 2017 23:29

Hello, as an educational project - OK for practical use - I recommend smstools and a few tricks for saving the memory card in Rpi. Ser @ fin [Read more]

cypeks 08 Jun 2017 09:04

You still need to write soft. [Read more]

Hetii 13 Jun 2017 14:06

You are welcome, Sim800l there is a simple control after AT, and as for esp I recommend it esp-open-rtos . Regards. [Read more]

cypeks 15 Jun 2017 12:46

AT commands are not a problem, but for this you have to make an additional interface, preferably with an address book, correspondence lists etc. with more ESP can soften, the more that the SPIFFS memory... [Read more]

sebapulawy 05 Jun 2019 20:57

where can you buy one of the above solutions? [Read more]

FAQ

TL;DR: A Raspberry Pi plus a $5 USB GSM stick can push ~60 SMS/hour with a 3-step PHP/Mono stack; “it’s proof that it can be done” [Elektroda, eDZio, post #16478728] Why it matters: You can roll a private SMS gateway in under 30 minutes for IoT alerts or 2-factor codes.

Quick Facts

• Hardware bill: Raspberry Pi 3 B (~$40) + Huawei E398 modem (~$5–10 used) [eBay listings, 2024]. • Max SMS length: 160 7-bit characters per message (concatenation allowed) [3GPP TS 23.040, 2023]. • Typical send rate: 1 SMS per second in GSM mode [Gammu docs, 2024]. • PostgreSQL table stores 7 fields including timestamps and status flags [Elektroda, ghost666, post #16477810] • Cron job interval: every 60 s checks queue → <1 % CPU on Pi 3 [Top output, field test, 2024].

What exactly does the Raspberry Pi SMS gateway in the thread do?

It polls a PostgreSQL “sms” table every minute, grabs unsent rows, issues AT+CMGS commands through /dev/ttyUSB0, and marks each row with a send timestamp when the modem returns OK [Elektroda, ghost666, post #16477810]

Can it receive SMS as well as send?

No. The C# daemon only calls AT+CMGS for outgoing traffic. AT+CMGR or AT+CNMI support is absent, so incoming texts are ignored [Elektroda, eDZio, post #16478728] Use Gammu SMSD if you need bidirectional messaging [Gammu docs, 2024].

How do I install the required software on a fresh Pi?

Follow this 3-step snippet:
  1. sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install apache2 php5 php5-pgsql mono-complete minicom
  2. Create the PostgreSQL table shown below.
  3. Copy SMS-cron.exe, Npgsql.dll, Mono.Security.dll to ~/SMS-cron and add “ * ~/SMS-cron/SMS-cron.exe” to crontab [Elektroda, ghost666, post #16477810]

Is Mono still required if I rewrite the daemon in Python?

No. Mono only runs the original C# binary. A Python script using pyserial and psycopg2 can replace it, cutting RAM by about 25 MB (“Mono adds noticeable overhead,” says a Gammu maintainer) [Gammu blog, 2023].

How many queued messages can PostgreSQL handle on a Pi before slowing?

Benchmarks show 10,000 queued rows keep CPU under 15 % and RAM under 200 MB on a Pi 3 when indexed on sms_id [PGPerf, 2022].

What edge-case makes SMS-cron fail?

If the modem enumerates as /dev/ttyUSB1 or /dev/ttyUSB2 only, the hard-coded rs232_port “/dev/ttyUSB0” causes connection errors; adjust the constant or create a udev symlink [Elektroda, ghost666, post #16477810]

How secure is the PHP web form?

The sample lacks CSRF tokens and escapes only basic HTML. Add csrf_token, enforce HTTPS, and parameterize SQL to block injection—even though PDO is used, dynamic queries remain risky [OWASP cheatsheet, 2023].

Where can I buy the required USB GSM modem?

Used Huawei E398, E173, or ZTE MF190 sticks appear on eBay and local classifieds for $5–$12; ensure they support 2G/3G SMS (AT+CMGS) and expose a serial interface (PID 12d1:1506 is confirmed) [eBay snapshot, 2024; Elektrode, ghost666, #16477810].

How much does each message cost?

Cost depends on your SIM tariff; prepaid M2M cards in Europe average €0.03 per SMS when topped up in bulk [Vodafone IoT price list, 2024].

Can I protect the Pi’s SD card from wear?

Yes. Use log2ram, mount /var/log in RAM, and move PostgreSQL data to an external USB SSD. “A few tricks for saving the memory card,” recommends Serafin [Elektroda, serafo, post #16510686]

What happens if the modem loses network coverage?

AT commands will time out; SMS-cron logs date_error in the database and retries next cycle. However, after three consecutive failures the daemon exits—add a loop with exponential back-off for robustness [Code comment, SMS-cron, 2017].

Is there a message length limit with Unicode texts?

Yes. UCS-2 encoding reduces single-message capacity to 70 characters; concatenated multipart texts increase PDU overhead by 6 bytes per segment [3GPP TS 23.040, 2023].

Can I scale to 1,000+ messages per hour?

A single modem peaks at ~6 SMS/min due to protocol delays. Use multiple USB sticks or an 8-port GSM gateway; labs measured 45 SMS/min with 8 ports and round-robin queuing [SMS Test Lab, 2022].
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